Author: LaToya M. Davidson-Perez

I currently have the tune to Rihanna’s song Disturbia stuck in my head. The thing is, I keep hearing the word “insomnia.” I’m still really bad about pushing through the effects of my nightly sleeping medication. I should be a lot better about it but I’m not. I’ve already played a few games on my iPad Mini and have done some reading. However, rather than being able to drift off to sleep like my husband did hours ago, I’m still awake. But of course, now that I’m in front of my computer my eyes become droopy and the bed is more alluring.

The past few days have been relatively pleasant. Outside of the spats that the hubby and I have, I’ve been feeling very productive and happy with life. I’ve even decided to use an app to track my moods. Having had a hysterectomy it’s not as easy to tell when to expect my week of productivity each month. I also hope to more accurately be able to tell when my mood is off and make note of what may put me in a certain mood. It’s important for someone like me who often struggles with depression. And now that I’m trying to work from home full-time it’s even more important for me to remain focused and productive. Once I get in front of the computer I’m fine. However, it’s the seemingly long journey it seems to take for me to get there. I love sleeping in. Thus, the earliest I usually hop on is around 11am. I’d like to change that.

So, about my day job. The last time I made a post I mentioned that I decided that Dollar General was not the right fit for me. It still isn’t. But what is becoming more and more appealing is something that I’ve had since 2011, my administrative services business. In the past week I’ve become more interested and motivated in making it my “day job.” The thing is, I’m very particular. I have very exacting standards of work and I can occasionally be a bit set in my ways. Thus I find that I’ve always most enjoyed being responsible for my work output. I know me and I know that because I tend to be a bit of an Alpha, I really enjoy working alone. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that I enjoyed working on in a team but I relish my opportunity to show just what I’m made of. I’ve completed a few jobs just in the past month or so and am hoping to be able to find a more permanent position as someone’s virtual assistant so that the additional jobs and projects I pick up can simply become more of supplemental income than anything else. Continue reading “Insomnia” →

On this beautiful Sunday afternoon in Georgia I relax in our hotel room and contemplate where today’s post will take me. A lot has happened since my last post. I was working as an Assistant Store Manager at a Dollar General for several weeks. It was a job that my husband didn’t think I should have taken but I tried very hard to make the most out of the situation. I saw it as a new challenge. A challenge was exactly what it was. In the absence of a store manager it was difficult to adapt to the new setting. Working in that environment was just not good for me at all. I tried but I knew that it wasn’t the right fit. So when I got sick with a severe sore throat on Monday it was just icing on the already chaotic and unfulfilling cake. I took it as the final push that I needed. I worked on Wednesday after taking only a day off to nurse my sore throat. I thought that since I’d begin taking antibiotics from Monday that I would be able to work my entire shift on Wednesday. I even went in early. Sadly, my body just wasn’t ready to be back and my head and heart simply didn’t plan on returning to the game. Sure, I was at times reluctant about the job even while putting forth 100% of my effort, but I tried to ignore the persistent negative aspects of the experience until I couldn’t take it any more. Wednesday, as my sore throat became more severe, I threw in the towel. I couldn’t continue to work for an employer who was absent. I had done everything I could to learn all that I could without there being onsite guidance. However, when it’s clear that you’re a part of something that is disinterested providing support to their own employees, then it’s like any relationship, if only one person is interested in making it work, it’s not going to work. Continue reading “Lazy Days” →

I really wish that this was more than lip-service considering how frequently I say this, but I’m going to say it all the same, I wish that I was better about writing. I am trying to do what I consider to be my minimum, once a week. But you’d think that with as much as I actually enjoy writing I’d do more of it. I think about it a lot, actually. And you’d think that with so many convenient ways to post I’d be more willing to do so. However, here I am as usual lamenting on how much I wish I was writing more. The thing is, with my personal blog it’s not that I don’t have anything to say. Despite living a very mundane life I feel that there is always something for me to say. There are many moments where I have something to say that would simply be a few sentences. I’d planned to use my Tumblr account for those things but I’ve been lazy to do so. I like the idea of doing an audio post but would much rather click away on the keyboard. Plus, despite my very decent diction I find that when I open my mouth to speak the many thoughts running through my mind I end up losing the emphasis and poignancy of what I really want to say. Lost in translation.

So, all that’s to also say, I’ve been fairly busy. I started a new job last week Sunday and have only had one day of since. It’s in retail management but at present outside of doing a lot of computer based learning I’ve been doing more manual labor at the job than I’ve done in years. I’m assisting with stocking a brand new location of the retail store and my Flex Force band have seen my daily step count over the past three days surpass all the steps that I took for the past three weeks! And so yesterday, despite planning on getting on the computer I took a hot shower and then hopped in bed. My feet and calves are killing me! My body is used to being fairly stationary and I have the weight gain to support that. So, this change in routine has my body now more consistently supporting my added weight and it’s been pretty brutal. I’m adjusting. These past few days have felt like weeks. At least, physically it’s felt that way. I was thinking today, as I stocked shelves with merchandise, that it’s interesting that I’m in a job that doesn’t require advanced thinking. There were moments where I was happy about, after having spent over a decade at a very demanding job, being in a job where I didn’t have to do any real critical thinking. All I was doing was following basic instructions and was left alone to complete them. I enjoy working alone. My moments of happiness in the simplicity of it was then interrupted by my mind then thinking about how many college degrees I have and am now doing a manual labor retail job for less than a third of what I was previously making. On this point I am doing what I can to not allow myself to live in that space. I have weighed the pros and cons of finding a job in the Atlanta area in one of my handful of professions. However, the cons always win out and so for now I know that I have to be willing to accept being overqualified for most jobs in my area. Continue reading “Time to Catch Up” →